The Devil Who Claimed Me

Mila glanced around and noticed the guard was busy on his phone, barely paying attention to her.

’Now is my chance...’

She thought she should go and find the janitor.

"Excuse me, I need to use the restroom." She stood up.

Remy nodded. "Go ahead. I’ll settle the bill."

Mila nodded and walked away, her steps laced with urgency. She slipped away when the guard wasn’t looking at her.

At another table, Valentina lowered her head and lifted the menu card, hiding her face as her eyes followed Mila.

’Where is she going?’ she wondered inwardly. ’I need to follow her.’

She quickly wrapped her scarf around her face and trailed behind. When she saw Mila heading into the restroom, she followed her inside but froze momentarily when she spotted Mila at the sink, washing her hands.

Reacting instantly, Valentina adjusted her scarf and slipped into a cubicle.

Mila glanced briefly at her back, her brows furrowing. ’Why does she feel familiar?’ she murmured to herself. ’Who is she?’

She shrugged off that thought. ’Focus. I need to find her.’

She stepped out of the restroom and scanned the area, searching for the janitor. In the meantime, a hand suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

"What the..."

"Shh..."

Mila’s eyes widened as she recognized the woman. "You?"

"Keep quiet. Come with me."

Mila stiffened but didn’t resist. She followed her into a storage room.

The woman quickly checked outside, making sure no one was watching, then shut the door firmly.

"You finally came back," she said, her eyes sweeping over Mila. "It’s predictable. You got close to Dominic. Of course, Serene would target you. This was only her first attempt. She won’t stop. She will try to hurt you again."

Mila narrowed her eyes slightly as she studied her. Then she smiled. "You sound concerned," she said sarcastically.

The woman frowned.

Mila’s smile disappeared. "You worked for the enemy, forcing me to leak Dominic’s information. And now, you are pretending to care. I told you everything I knew. But you never assured me about my friend’s safety. How long are you going to keep threatening me?"

The woman scoffed. "Do you think the boss would reward you for half the truth? You didn’t tell us everything."

Mila frowned, her insides twisting. However, she hid her nervousness and said, "I told you everything about the arms deal. I didn’t hide anything."

"Oh, really," the woman hissed. Stepping toward her, she squeezed her jaw tightly. "You said nothing about the syndicate backing Dominic. You kept that from us. So now, you’ll face the consequences."

She pushed her face away.

"What?" Mila felt her hair rising on her nape. The thought of Lara being in danger made her blood run cold.

"I didn’t know anything about that," she said quickly. "Nothing was confirmed in that meeting. Dominic didn’t sign anything except the arms deal. I told you exactly what happened. How can you say I lied?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The words escaped her mouth in a hurry. She was so anxious that she had even forgotten someone else could hear her.

"Lower your voice," the woman warned sharply. "Do you want to expose us?"

Mila turned her head aside, her heart thumping. She couldn’t trust them. She had to talk to Dominic and ask him to keep Lara safe.

"But the information we received was accurate," the woman insisted. "You weren’t loyal to us. The boss is furious, and he has decided to teach you a lesson."

Mila looked back at the woman, dread evident in her eyes. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

The woman curled her lips. "Don’t worry. You are his asset. He won’t hurt you. But your friend? I can’t promise anything."

"You?" Mila clenched her teeth, anger flashing in her eyes. "If you don’t trust me, then why force me into this?"

"Because you are the only one who can get close to Dominic."

Mila let out a bitter scoff. "Yet you still don’t trust me," she muttered. "You chose to believe someone else, someone who isn’t even close to him. Then why do you need me at all?"

The woman’s gaze darkened. "That person was present at the meeting. He revealed details you conveniently left out."

Shock rippled through Mila.

At that meeting, only Mr. Lee and his son were there. No one else had been allowed into the private room Dominic had reserved, not even the guards.

Then who leaked the information? Mr. Lee or Jiang?

Her thoughts spiraled, tangled in doubt and suspicion.

"Since this is your first mistake, the punishment won’t be severe," the woman continued, pulling Mila back to the present. "She won’t die..."

A slow, calculating smile spread across her lips. "But accidents can still happen."

Mila’s face turned pale. But her tone was sharp. "Don’t touch her. I’ll not make such mistakes again. Please."

She clasped her hand in desperation.

The woman shoved them away. "This is just a warning. Next time, she dies."

With that, she turned and opened the door.

"Wait..." Mila held her hand yet again. "Please have some mercy. It was my mistake. Don’t punish her because of that. If you want, punish me."

The woman turned, her expression indifferent. "I don’t make the decisions. Orders are already given."

She pulled away.

"Wait," Mila called again. "Listen to me—"

"Leave before someone sees you," the woman cut her off coldly. "Don’t waste my time."

She stormed away.

Mila stood frozen, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Tears welled in her eyes.

’Lara.’

Fear gripped her heart tightly.

"If only I could call her..." she whispered. "What am I going to do? How do I save her?"

From a distance, Valentina watched everything, her brows knitting together. Her gaze shifted between Mila and the departing woman.

Valentina frowned as she saw the scene. She glanced at the janitor’s departing form before turning her attention back to Mila.

’What is going on between these two? Why does Mila look disturbed after speaking with her?’

She felt something off.

"This is not normal. I need to dig deeper." She looked in the direction where the janitor disappeared, suspicion flickering in her eyes.

After a brief hesitation, she turned and followed the mysterious woman.